Dead Web Sites Need A Recharge

You may not realize it but Web Sites can go bad, too. Just like a dying battery in a flashlight, if you don’t have a plan to keep your Web Site fresh your business may become hard to find on the Internet.

Google and the other Search Engines reward Web Sites that have new, relevant information on them and conversely, those that don’t can fall in Search Engine rankings – especially if the field is competitive. To give your site a competitive edge – not to mention let your existing and new customers know you’re still open for business – you have to have a plan to keep your Web Site recharged and bringing in traffic.

We’ve all been there: We’re trying to find that restaurant you went to clsoe to a year ago and we’ve been meaning to go back. Unfortunately, the restaurant opted for a cheap Flash-made Web Site and it hasn’t been updated in about three years, so we have no idea if they’re actually open for business. The phone number on the site is out of service, and so you find yourself on Yelp looking for a recent review when you find another restaurant getting great reviews.

What do you do? Keep looking for the old restaurant or head to the new one? Well, that depends on two things: 1) how much your stomach is growling are and 2) how much loyalty you have to the old restaurant.

If you’re so hungry you’re about to faint, you’ll probably go to the one you know will feed you. If you have an immense loyalty built up to the old restaurant, you weren’t looking for it on the Net and if you were, you’ll probably try it again another day – but right now you need to fix your problem of being hungry.

Your business’ customers are the same way. If your site is severely out of date, the new ones will pass you over and the old ones may be attracted to the shiny new place that looks like it has a lot going on. Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t even want them to have a chance at thinking that!

Moreover, they may not even find your business on the Internet if Google is finding your competitors because they’ve been around as long as you have but they have more fresh information with relevant keywords presented on their site.

Yes, I’m the owner of Web Site Maintenance & Design and I make money updating Web Sites – but not much. I price maintenance very competitively (it’s actually nearly a loss) to make sure that cost is not a deterrent for my existing customers – I want them updating their sites that badly! It’s in their best interest, and I tell them that. Often.

Any way you look at it, it’s hard to see in the dark with a dead flashlight. Any way you look at it, it’s hard to be found of interest or even found on the Internet without a fresh, updated site. Make a plan or give me a call today and we’ll make one for you!